


Welcome Back, Changkyun

by merryofsoul



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Drabble, M/M, New Year's Kiss, changkyun is lonely at a party and there's a dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 01:11:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17234603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merryofsoul/pseuds/merryofsoul
Summary: Changkyun's starting the new year off right.





	Welcome Back, Changkyun

**Author's Note:**

> A few things -- I definitely took liberties with when exactly Changkyun lived abroad and instead of it being when he was very little, I had him in Boston for college. Also, I know that the lunar new year is the more widely celebrated and family oriented holiday in Korea, but I know a lot of people all over the world still celebrate the solar new year as well and I read some articles that said Koreans have taken to celebrating both!
> 
> Shout out to helicases for coming up with the title in literally less than a minute after I struggled with it for like...two weeks.

Changkyun looks around at all the strangers at the party and thinks that he should’ve just gone to Gwangju for the New Year. Other than his family, the only person Changkyun knows in Korea is his roommate Hyungwon, and that’s only because their moms are friends. But between the move and settling into life in Seoul and worrying about the job he’s supposed to start in two days, he didn’t want to travel anymore. 

So, it was either get on a train to spend time with his family, sit in the apartment alone, or accept Hyungwon’s invitation to hang out.

Changkyun can be loud when he wants to, but he’s definitely more subdued in new situations. Hyungwon introduces him to one person before leaving him to search for his boyfriend, and Changkyun is stuck trying to have a shouted conversation with a guy named Minhyuk. Minhyuk is nice enough and shows Changkyun where the kitchen is so he can get a drink, but he’s also very popular with all of the other guests at the party. It’s not long before Changkyun is standing by himself with people he doesn’t know, in a place that hasn’t been his home in close to ten years. 

He needs some air. 

He pushes his way through the crush of people as politely as possible and heads for the backyard. He noticed a set of dog bowls in the kitchen and a dog door, so he knows there’s a dog around here somewhere. 

It’s cold when he steps through the sliding doors to the back deck, but it feels good against his sweaty skin. He sips his beer as he scans the backyard. Dogs don’t care about shyness or weirdness. That’s what makes them the best. His mouth drops open in a gasp when he finally sees it. It’s the biggest dog he’s ever seen in his entire life, with long brown hair and a fluffy head. It’s standing in the middle of the yard, snapping its jaws at the snowflakes floating down around it.

“Oh my god,” Changkyun says. He squats at the top of the stairs, almost tipping forward off the deck and into the snowy yard below, and holds out a hand. “Come here, cutie!” 

The dog ignores him, and Changkyun pouts as he calls out to it again. He so desperately wants to pet that dog, and if he wasn’t wearing sneakers, he’d already be out in the yard doing just that. He hears the door open behind him, and expecting it to be Hyungwon coming to find him, doesn’t look over to greet him. 

“It hates me,” Changkyun pouts as he stands back up. He crosses his arms as much as he’s able with the beer still in his hand and sighs. 

“I’m sure she doesn’t,” the newcomer replies, and Changkyun freezes. That’s not Hyungwon. 

He turns to his left and stares at the guy next to him. And then continues to stare, despite how rude it is, because what the _hell._

“You know it’s like, literally snowing, right?” Changkyun says, and then blushes. He’s usually shy, and not so forward with people he’s just met, but this guy is wearing a sweater with the deepest vee that Changkyun’s ever seen, and no undershirt to boot. His necklaces glint in the light filtering from inside, and Changkyun takes a gulp of his beer to soothe his suddenly dry throat. The combination of the guy’s muscles and the tightness of the sweater is too much for Changkyun, and he looks away quickly. 

“I overheat easily,” the guy says. “But you look cold. Here.” 

Changkyun looks again and sees the guy holding out a jacket. It’s not Changkyun’s jacket that he was wearing when he came in, but it’ll fit him, so he takes it gratefully. The guy takes his empty beer bottle and sets it to the side as Changkyun puts the coat on. 

“Thanks,” he says as he zips it up to his neck. There’s a hood that he can hide part of his face in, and he does just that, breathing in the scent of cologne. “I’m Changkyun.” 

“Hyunwoo,” the guy responds with a grin. “What are you doing out here?”

“Just wanted some air,” Changkyun replies truthfully. “Wanted to make friends with the dog but I don’t think it likes people—”

Changkyun stops talking abruptly when the dog bounds over, panting and slobbering, and bowls right into Hyunwoo’s legs. Hyunwoo laughs and crouches to pet the dog, rubbing its ears and kissing its head. 

“What the hell?” Changkyun pouts. 

“If she didn’t like me, that’d be really sad.” Hyunwoo smiles up at Changkyun. “Seeing as she’s mine.” 

“This is your house?” Changkun asks. 

“Yeah,” Hyunwoo says. “I live here with Hoseok, who is—”

“—Hyungwon’s boyfriend,” Changkyun finishes. “It all makes sense now.” He considers Hyunwoo, who is still petting the dog gently.

“What’s her name?” 

Hyunwoo grins and stands, brushing the front of his sweater down. It doesn’t do much to remove any of the dog hair, but Hyunwoo doesn’t seem to mind. “Mama Bear, but I just call her Mama. She’s a Newfoundland. I got her from a place that rescued her from a breeder.”

“Oh,” Changkyun says, feeling sad for the dog. She seems happy now, and even comes over to sniff Changkyun’s shoes. He reaches out and pets her head tentatively, smiling when he gets to feel how silky soft her ears are. Hyunwoo digs in his pocket for a second and then holds something out. 

“Do you want to give her a treat? She’ll be your best friend.” 

Changkyun steps closer to take the treat from Hyunwoo. He stays in his new spot laughs as Mama slobbers all over his hand. 

“Oh jeez,” Hyunwoo says. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Changkyun says, grinning as he wipes his fingers on his jeans. He pats Mama on her head and watches as she decides she’s bored of them and goes bounding off again.

He should move away from Hyunwoo, but it really is cold out here and Hyunwoo’s radiating a ridiculous amount of warmth. This close to him, Changkyun can smell his cologne, and he realizes that the jacket Hyunwoo lent him was his own.

“You’ve been gone a long time, right?” Hyunwoo asks. Changkyun looks up at him in surprise. 

“Yeah...How did you know?” He asks slowly before gasping. “Oh god. Do I have a weird accent now?”

“No, no,” Hyunwoo hurries to say. “Hyungwon just told me you’d been living abroad but that you just moved back. That’s all I meant.”

“Yeah, my dad’s job took us all over,” Changkyun explains. “And then I went to university in Boston. I haven’t been back to Seoul since I was like, fourteen or fifteen.”

“That’s a long time,” Hyunwoo says. “You probably don’t know where anything is.”

“No,” Changkyun says. It comes out a little petulant, but why did Hyunwoo have to point it out like that?

Hyunwoo sighs. “I’m not that good at this. I’m trying to offer to take you out and show you around, if you want. It’s coming out wrong.”

“Oh?” Changkyun grins. “I’d like that.”

Hyunwoo’s grin is shy and he shoves his hands in his pockets as he looks at the ground. Changkyun’s stomach swoops at the sight. Changkyun’s trying to come up with something cool and impressive to say when the door to the deck opens behind them. 

“Oh good,” Hyungwon says, leaning half out the door. “You’ve met.” He looks between the two of them, and seems to do a double take at Changkyun wearing Hyunwoo’s coat. He stares at them for a long moment before startling and saying, “It’s almost midnight!”

Changkyun can see him through the glass door as he pulls himself back into the house and turns to talk animatedly to the guy waiting for him. The guy who must be Hoseok glances at Changkyun through the glass and grins brightly when they make eye contact, and then ushers Hyungwon away.

Hyunwoo sighs. “My friends...they’re…”

“Nice,” Changkyun interrupts. “Everyone here is nice. I like it here.”

Hyunwoo graces him with a shy smile again. “Good.”

“Do you want to go inside?” Changkyun asks, hearing the countdown start. Hyunwoo doesn’t look like he’s rushing to get back in. 

“I’m okay out here,” Hyunwoo says. 

“Oh, good,” Changkyun says. Hyunwoo smiles and Changkyun clears his throat. “I mean — me too.”

The closer it gets to midnight, the closer Hyunwoo and Changkyun drift together, until the voices inside get to ten and Changkyun’s shoulder rests firmly against Hyunwoo’s. The stroke of midnight comes as Hyunwoo presses a gentle kiss to Changkyun’s cheek, while Changkyun stares at the ground, ears burning. 

“Happy New Year,” Hyunwoo murmurs. 

“Happy New Year,” Changkyun replies, turning to smile at Hyunwoo. Mama starts to howl as fireworks start going off, and Hyunwoo grins, big and goofy — first at his dog, and then at Changkyun. Changkyun grins back and thinks, _yeah, I really like it here._

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year! Come say hi on [ Twitter!](https://twitter.com/guccitaeg) And in case you don't know what a Newfoundland looks like, check out this [ picture.](https://vetstreet.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5e4bb18/2147483647/thumbnail/645x380/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvetstreet-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa9%2Fd5%2F9f8aa6d040ada32feaf997a6e36a%2Fnewfoundland-AP-1NGNAA-645sm12913.jpg) 😭


End file.
